Artisan Island

23/08/2026

A few items currently in the shop, if you see something you would like please what’s app me a message on 07401008004

To get an entry for the crochet bike

https://square.link/u/rgdzDdX0?src=sheet

30

22/08/2026

Public Statement Regarding Escalating Harassment, Cyberstalking, Defamation and Malicious Communication Directed Towards Artisan Island and Mr Ian Lambert, Director.

Artisan Island wishes to make the following further statement regarding the sustained campaign directed at it’s current Director, Mr Ian Lambert and Artisan Island by John Rustage, as well as various ‘keyboard warriors’.

What began as criticism has evolved into a coordinated pattern of abusive stalking and harassment behaviour that has crossed fundamental thresholds of decency and legality. It has been acknowledged sellers are owed money still, with all efforts being made to pay these debts. Many sellers, including Mr Ian Lambert, are also owed a significant amount of money by other shops, who have declared insolvency this year, but are dealing with this in a business like manner.

Artisan Island remains trading to continue to pay sellers as much as possible, before it closes and bankruptcy is declared.

The Weymouth community are now witnessing defamation, malicious communications, and cyber-stalking of a nature that is frankly difficult to comprehend, directed at a small local Weymouth enterprise and an individual who has lived in the town over 20 years.

The content being posted includes vicious personal attacks targeting Mr. Ian Lambert's appearance, personal circumstances, family members, and private life, as well as death threats and wishing him various severe permanent life-changing injuries. This extends far beyond reasonable comment or constructive criticism—it is targeted vindictiveness of an unprecedented scale towards what remains essentially a small seaside business and a 63 year old local disabled man with severe and life-threatening health issues trying to do his best in a very difficult situation.

Those who have contributed to or enabled this campaign are hereby notified that further attempts to engage in harassment, defamation, or malicious communications will be met with full legal response. The recent breaking into the shop is being considered linked to the online harassment and incitement by Mr Rustage and others.

Some individuals with no connection with Artisan Island have attempted to leverage attention drawn to this situation to boost their own visibility and for virtue signaling purposes, writing about Mr Ian Lambert. They have been praised by others for actions they said they ‘considered’, but actually never took. The absurdity of this is breathtaking.

While genuine criticism is welcomed and there is accountability for concerns, there exists a clear distinction between critique and coordinated personal attack. What Artisan Island and Mr Ian Lambert is experiencing falls firmly into the latter category.

This matter has reached a level where it constitutes criminal conduct, which is escalating and the police continue to investigate. Artisan Island is actively engaged with law enforcement authorities and are pursuing all available legal avenues.

Customers and the wider community are asked to remember that behind this business stands real people, real local sellers, trying to keep it going, people who live and work in Weymouth. Unlike Mr Rustage who is trying to damage a business and individual’s reputation in a town miles from his own.

59

21/08/2026

Disabled people love shopping at Artisan Island, they don’t mind parking their Mobility Scooters outside, know that I don’t discriminate and tell me face to face to stand my ground. Most of the negative comments are from non disabled people just stirring trouble for the sake of it.

Thank you for your understanding and your patronage

And let’s not forget that none of them shopped here in two and a half years so their silly boycott holds as much water as a Weymouth fishing net

Shop Smart - Shop Artisan Island

Ignore all the silly people they wane off in the end

Never Give Up

Never Give In

Never Back Down - When your in the right 😉

20/08/2026

This is your last warning Dorset Council Weymouth Town Council Dorset Police We Are Weymouth UK fans

I won’t tell you again !!!!

The link for the tickets;

https://square.link/u/Hk8PUsqF?src=sheet

60

19/08/2026

A piece of prose sent Anon by one of Artisan Island’s

I am assured it’s satire and a bit of fun and not meant to be offensive, having been satired over the mobility scooter ban I can see the funny side and so thought I would post it on my day off

I hope you see the funny side too 😃

Dear Ian

I think like me, you'll enjoy the absurdity of what has been happening to you and the Artisan Island audience after you've read this.

(Don't let the bugg*rs grind you down bro)

Part One

There is a curious creature abroad whenever the sun comes out in a seaside town: the Meanderthal. Not necessarily old. Not necessarily infirm. What distinguishes him is something considerably more irritating: the profound conviction that the public realm exists principally to accommodate whatever he happens to be sitting on. And increasingly, that means the little electric chariot.

It is a magnificent machine. A tiny armoured throne upon which the Meanderthal glides majestically down pavements, across promenades and, with the confidence of a man who has never encountered a kerb he couldn't bounce off, into shops. The trouble begins when the chariot enters the shop.

Suddenly the Meanderthal becomes an expert on accessibility, discrimination, aisle widths, human rights and the precise legal obligations of a small independent retailer who has just watched several thousand pounds' worth of shelving, displays and merchandise being shunted around like supermarket trolleys.

At Artisan Island, the answer has therefore been refreshingly simple: Mobility scooters are banned. Not wheelchairs. Not disabled people. Mobility scooters.

A wheelchair and walker have been provided for customers who need them. Electric wheelchairs are accommodated. Personal assistance remains available. The distinction really isn't complicated, although the Meanderthal appears determined to make it so. Because this is where the little electric chariot becomes more than transport. It becomes a badge of entitlement.

I cannot walk.

Fine.

But the Meanderthal doesn't necessarily want a wheelchair. He wants his vehicle, his route, his rules and, preferably, a shop rearranged around him. Suggest leaving the scooter outside and using the equipment provided and suddenly you are apparently persecuting an entire demographic.

People will demand wider aisles. Less stock. Different rules. Special treatment.
And if you decline, the vocabulary arrives: ableist. Discriminatory. Outrageous. Occasionally something considerably less printable.

Meanwhile, somewhere behind them, a display is leaning at a peculiar angle.
A door has been damaged. A lift has been broken. Someone has narrowly avoided being flattened.

And the Meanderthal, pink from scalp to ankle and radiating the serene certainty of someone who has never once considered that he might be the problem, sits upon his electric throne and demands to know why society isn't doing more for him.

There is a serious conversation to be had about accessibility. Of course there is.
But accessibility cannot mean turning every privately owned shop into a demolition course for badly driven mobility equipment. Nor should disability become a magic word that absolves somebody from responsibility when they cause damage or create danger for others.

A pram cannot dodge sideways. A toddler certainly can't. An elderly person with a walker may not move quickly.

And if somebody can smash a heavy display several feet with their scooter, perhaps the question isn't whether they have a right to drive it through a crowded shop. Perhaps everyone else has a right not to be hit by it.

So the sign goes up:

NO MOBILITY SCOOTERS.

And the Meanderthals are outraged.
Boycotts are threatened. Protests announced. Legal action promised. Occasionally, even threats are made against the proprietor - a particularly curious interpretation of disability rights.

But the answer remains the same. The shopkeeper has not banned disabled people. He has banned the little electric chariot. And somewhere on the seafront, surrounded by discarded chip wrappers and the distant whine of another scooter approaching at the speed of continental drift, the Meanderthal is preparing his next Facebook comment. He has an opinion. Naturally. He has always had an opinion.
It is the only thing he can operate without a licence.

Part Two

The Meanderthal is at his most magnificent when he reaches the public highway.
Having established that walking is an affront to his human rights, he now takes his motorised buggy onto the road with the confidence of a man who has personally invented traffic. There is no destination, of course. There is merely movement. Slow, erratic, majestically purposeless movement.

He proceeds down the high street at a speed normally associated with continental drift, occupying exactly the amount of road required to make overtaking impossible.

Behind him, a queue forms. Buses sigh. Delivery vans age visibly. Somewhere, a local taxi driver quietly develops a new vein in his forehead.

The Meanderthal remains serene.

He may indicate. He may not. He may stop without warning to inspect a window display, converse with another Meanderthal, or contemplate the profound mystery of whether he wants a sausage roll. None of this concerns the traffic behind him.

The road, in his understanding, is an extension of the caravan park: a sort of communal patio upon which other people are expected to exercise caution. And should a motorist sound the horn?
Out comes the arm. Not a wave. A judgement. The Meanderthal turns, pink and affronted, and delivers the universal gesture of a man who believes he has been personally persecuted by the Highway Code.

His buggy has become, in these moments, more than transport. It is a chariot of entitlement. A tiny electric declaration that although he may have no money, no sense of direction and no apparent reason to be where he is, he nevertheless has rights.

And opinions.

Good heavens, does he have opinions.
He will eventually reach the seafront, where he will park diagonally across three perfectly good spaces, complain that parking is impossible, and announce that the council ought to do something about it.

Then he will drive home.

20

18/08/2026

I think enough is enough now. There is an incredible amount of nasty people being abusive, name calling and being downright nasty, not only towards me but also towards our supporters

To our supporters: if you see a nasty or vile comment, abusive or foul name calling, please click on the share link on their post, copy the link to the comment and past that in a comment here on this post and help me clean up our feed

We have given people ample time and opportunity to join in on sensible debates but some people take things way too far so it’s time we started blocking them and taking away their voice

We are all up for sensible discussion and debate but it’s got to the stage where some are telling out and out lies, feeding misinformation, being downright nasty and abusive including and not limited to wishing me in a wheelchair, wanting to smash my legs in and or harm me and my family in other ways, being nasty and abusive to supporters of ours and more

The breaking and entering today was the last straw. In trying to educate the ignorant all I’ve managed to do is open the floodgates of a nasty vile stream of hatred, funny how some of them preach Jesus on their own feed 🤦‍♂️

They add nothing to the conversation. Some of them do it using anonymous accounts because they are yellow bellied cowards that wouldn’t have the nerve to stand in front of me or any decent person spouting their hate filled rhetoric

To anyone making abusive comments and threats the Police are now actively investigating and you may be contacted

It’s time to start actively blocking them, they are not the kind of followers we want anyway

Just paste them here and we will take a look when we can, we will be on the lookout for them ourselves too

Thank you kindly for all the support you have given it’s very much appreciated 🙏🙏🙏

18/08/2026

Artisan Island broken into

30

18/08/2026

16/08/2026

Size 54 Grey Tailcoat £129 0741008004

15/08/2026

Statement from Ian Lambert of Artisan Island

FAO John Rustage of Rusty's Relics and other sellers owed money

Due to serious untruths and misinformation being circulated by Mr Rustage and others, this statement has become necessary.

Artisan Island Ltd has been experiencing financial difficulties for some time, which should come as no surprise to anyone as this has been made public for at least six months.

Everything possible was done to trade out of this situation, but unfortunately it proved impossible.

Mr Rustage and others repeatedly claim that hundreds of sellers are owed money. This is simply not true and is a fabrication. In my experience, when people are angry they tend to embellish the truth, stretching it and using imagination to make their point.

Mr Rustage and others state that tens of thousands of pounds are missing and imply that I have personally benefited from this, which is untrue.

Are Mr Rustage and others owed money? Yes, they are. Can they all be paid? No, they cannot, because there are insufficient funds. The Directors of Artisan Island managed finances to continue trading similarly to many other Artisan shops in the same position.

Unfortunately despite an interest free loan to pay 2 months rent until January and relieve pressure on the shop, the dire Christmas sales meant the shop never got back on track. Waged shop staff (including the shop manager/former Director) left in March 2026, when their wages could no longer be paid. Voluntary hours since then have been substantial to fill this gap, whilst reducing for a period due to health issues and increasing again more recently, enabling me to man the shop 5/6 days a week. It still hasn’t been enough to turn the shop around.

In May this year, a decision was made to continue generating income for payments by paying sellers daily for their sales from 1st June. This effectively ring-fenced sellers' money, giving them confidence to bring in stock. As a result, the bleed of sellers stopped. Not everyone who stayed continuously replenished stock, but those who remained prevented the business from collapsing immediately. Without stock, Artisan Island had nothing to sell, and without sales, it could not pay it’s debts.

Many sellers stuck with Artisan Island, supporting the shop by investing more of their own stock and promising to stay to the end. Things began to turn around slowly. At the same time, Mr Rustage and others continually harassed me personally for payment of their debts and published posts on social media designed to damage sales. While chasing debts is permitted, once insolvency is apparent, it becomes a criminal offence to attempt to make oneself a preferential creditor.

I have continued to keep the shop open, working 5–6 days a week with voluntary support, because I want as much money as possible repaid before the shop ceases trading. I would personally be better off not working.

Mr Rustage has made it clear that he only cares about what is owed to him and is happy to see all other creditors lose their money, due to his vindictive behaviour.

The decision was taken to pay current sellers daily for what sells, with any remaining money going first to the sellers who stayed to help keep the doors open. Artisan Island had already lost over 100 sellers (not hundreds as has been claimed). Mr Rustage has consistently and maliciously posted on social media to damage Artisan Island as a business and reduce sales for all creditors. In his own words to me: "As for me, well I'm absolutely and emphatically trying to cost YOU money now as it's obvious that you don't give a s**t about your creditors so why should we give a s**t about you?" By attempting to prevent sellers from entering the shop and buyers from shopping there, and explicitly seeking to "cost us money", Mr Rustage has made clear he would rather the shop closed immediately, regardless of whether anyone else is paid. His campaign against Artisan Island began months ago,

Mr Rustage is economical with the truth. He has actually received some payment towards what is owed to him. He also left behind stock that he donated to Artisan Island, and as that stock sells he receives payment no differently from any seller still in the shop. He neglects to mention this, despite having voluntarily given that stock to the business.

Artisan Island will now be exploring legal options as an insured limited company to address the libel from Mr Rustage, given the seriously damaging nature of his latest post in a local news group. Please be aware that anyone who continues to host or share that post, or any other of his libellous allegations which he openly admits are designed to stop Artisan Island trading, is also committing libel. Artisan Island is insured as a limited company, individuals who are attacking it are advised to check their insurance coverage. If they are not insured, then their personal financial assets are at risk.

For those unfamiliar with Artisan Island's history, there are multiple reasons for the business's current position:
1. The past winter was the worst for footfall this town has seen in decades; two weeks before Christmas, the streets were empty.
2. The Weymouth BID did not work with Artisan Island to help it succeed, failing to promote it as expected and actively attacking it on social media at times. They are paid to assist every business without discrimination, yet in Artisan Island's case made an exception.
3. Shoplifting has reached unprecedented levels in Weymouth (and nationally). Before WH Smith closed and I drove off their most prolific shoplifters, they were losing upwards of £5,000 per week. I have personally lost more than £10,000 to theft. Platypus Crystals lost a thousand pounds worth of rings brought in to support the shop, stolen the very same day and numerous individual valuable items. Theft has also affected many other sellers.
4. Dorset Council and specific council employees undermined Artisan Island instead of working with it, shown by written exchanges published in local groups. Council officials in private groups have been shown to be communicating in a way aimed to damage the business, in conjunction with a well-known local family.
5. Artisan Island brought over 600 people to Weymouth to trade on the high street; 500 of whom left due to lack of support. Local official support was sadly lacking.
6. Dorset Council demanded over £1,500 per month in rates and a BID levy of more than £150 per month—unsustainable for a small business on top of rent, utilities, staffing etc.
7. A bleed of sellers began in September/October 2025 and continued through to 2026, finally stemmed only when paying them out daily commenced. That seller bleed was started and orchestrated by an individual seller from he afore-mentioned local family who came into the shop as a seller without disclosing her association and then published abusive posts against me personally, including taking out of context an excerpt from a fictional short story, Weymouth BID employees, and council employees have engaged in undermining Artisan Island and seeking to damage it —all documented in the public domain. They were more concerned about how the information was passed on, than the planned undermining of a local business that the exchanges showed

Artisan Island and myself personally have been subjected to an enormous amount of vitriol and negativity since I have tried to address shoplifting. At points the abuse has been horrific, included death threats and other verbal assaults of this kind. How I express myself and my language is not always to some people’s liking. It is how I speak, blunt, direct and honest and also reflective of my background. I am perceived as aggressive by some, but invariably am responding to an attack on me, when I retaliate. Those who know and interact with me in person are only too aware of the difference between the reality and the caricature created by a mob mentality on social media.

Mobility scooters are not permitted in Artisan Island because of the environmental, risks, including past damage to stock owned by various sellers which has to be paid for by the shop at retail price. Artisan Island isn’t a large supermarket like Tescos. The risk of injuries to young children from mobility scooters driving through the environment had been assessed as being too high, in risk assessment. Asking sellers to remove their stock, significantly reducing sales at a time of the business going down and taking out lots of shelving, is not something that is expected of any other business in town. People see many small business premises that aren’t accessible for a mobility scooter and adjust accordingly. They don’t have wheelchairs and walkers available for customers like Artisan Island do. I have made reasonable and proportional accommodations. The recent announcement regarding mobility scooters was made due to various people trying to forcibly drive them through the shop, despite the clear signs not to and damage being caused. Yes I have become frustrated at this issue and am not impressed with the responses which have focused on my language, spelling and calling me ‘ableist’, whilst I am trying to keep a shop going despite multiple disabilities including a stoma, a heart condition and chronic daily pain.�
Dorset Council has succeeded in obtaining a liability order against Artisan Island for business rates owed, ensuring without question the shop will close and that they will be paid ahead of others. The Seafood Festival was granted £50,000 and attracted no more than a couple of dozen stalls for one and a half days of trading. Artisan Island brought over 600 people from across the UK and Europe to trade in Weymouth and received no support from Dorset Council—only a fine and a liability order. They enforced bills for next year's rates and the Weymouth BID, knowing the shop would not remain open.

To the former sellers, including those who took out County Court Judgements: the judgements only made the situation harder for the business and did not get those sellers paid faster. They were warned at this late stage they would be throwing good money after bad, but proceeded regardless. This gave the business a poor credit status, making it harder to repay creditors—a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There are people who do not like me personally, and that is fine. However, being so spiteful as to publicly protest the shop and stop others from shopping at Artisan Island is simply vile. Those people now have what they campaigned heavily for, as does Mr Rustage and the sellers who joined him: another empty shop on the high street that may take another three and a half years to rent, as it did before Artisan Island took it on.

Any contracts, debts, and liabilities belong to Artisan Island Limited, not to me personally. I am owed a substantial backlog in wages and have not profited in the manner Mr Rustage claims from keeping the shop open.
Artisan Island plans to remain open until the end of September to continue generating income for repayments. Mr Rustage and others have made clear they want it shut down, with no consideration for anyone else owed money.

At the end of September, they will get what they want, and Artisan Island will close permanently. Until then, your support is valued as ever.